New taxi gets its New York minute

Originally published: April 5, 2012

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

It was, in every way, a quintessential New York moment. The Mayor was there, there was a protest outside and the assembled media jostled for photo ops with an intensity that elevated the well-placed elbow from mere rudeness to sublime art form. Impossibly leggy model-wannabes inspected credentials with a rigour that suggested new tablets were coming down from the mount and, inside, the good folks from Nissan were hustling about like they were being delivered by God himself (although, by all accounts, Mayor Michael Bloomberg considers himself a worthy substitute).

It is the New York Auto Show and, since I am being hosted by Nissan, naturally there is a car involved. But, this being New York, the city in which taxis are only outnumbered by feral rodents, its newsworthiness — and the reason for The Exalted One’s presence — is said Nissan’s bilious-yellow cab. Yes, only in New York does one hold a press event worthy of J.Lo for the introduction of a cab. And again, only in New York are there some placard-carrying lunatics protesting the introduction of a cab. (If I am reading their placards right, they’re p.o.’ed the new NV200 is not immediately wheelchair-compatible, although the city has reportedly ordered 2,000 handicapped-accessible NV200s).

Then again, in New York, a taxi is by far the most important automobile on the road. One would have to be seriously mad to commute through downtown Manhattan’s mayhem in your own car, even if it was Smart’s sidewalk-compatible fortwo. Indeed, you see so few private cars on the potholed roads that Broadway and Madison Avenue often seem a sea of, well, refer to my previous description of the chosen hue. Mayor Bloomberg, as he eloquently describes in his sermon, er, speech, thinks them worthy of commissions, studies and mayoral action. And he seems most pleased that all taxis now have credit card readers in their (heavily armoured) rear seats. According to a 2007 census, there are 13,237 taxi cabs operating in downtown Manhattan and, if the scene at the New York Auto Show is any indication, they are all outside the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center right now.

According to Nissan, some 600,000 New Yorkers hop into the back of a cab each and every day and, again according to the automaker, said Manhattanites will enjoy greater headroom and a transparent sunroof that allows passengers, as W.C. Fields used to sing, to stare at high buildings. More importantly, for Wall Street’s young Gordon Gekkos on the go, the NV200 cab sports a USB port to charge their lifelines, er, smartphones. It all makes the announcement that the Nissan mini minivan will replace the entire current fleet — currently comprised of Toyota Siennas, Ford Escapes and the ubiquitous Crown Vics — by the end of 2018 something of a coup.

At any other car show, Carlos Ghosn’s (Nissan’s global CEO, much overshadowed by His Mayorship at the NV200 off-site launch, but the keynote speaker at the auto show) introduction of the fifth-generation Altima would be far bigger news. Ditto his restated goal of having Nissan and sibling automaker Renault sell 1.5 million zero-emissions automobiles by 2016. Indeed, Nissan, being the global leader in electric vehicles, will be testing a small fleet of battery-powered NV200 taxis. The Big Apple’s limited land mass and relatively short commutes would seem ideal for an EV and even a battery-swapping network. In fact, New York’s very first taxi cab company used electrically powered motor carriages that swapped out their huge lead-acid batteries at the end of each shift. In a cautionary tale, however, the Electric Vehicle Company went bankrupt in 1900 trying to manage all those spare batteries and their battery-swapping stations. In a move so prescient it’s almost precious, the company emerged from Chapter 11 by switching its entire fleet to gas-powered cabs.

There were plenty of other cars at New York’s Javits Center not painted puke yellow. BMW used the show for its worldwide introduction of the hyper-powered M6 Convertible as well as a facelifted X1 compact crossover. Chrysler revved up its much awaited Viper replacement and Acura took the opportunity to unveil an all-new topline sedan, now rebadged RLX (though the company might be better off returning to the Legend moniker that marked the brand’s heydays). Whatever its name, the new top-flight sedan is said to share the same V6/electric motor hybrid powertrain that powers the upcoming NSX hyper-car, meaning the car should have some serious puff.

General Motors also took the wraps off its 10th-generation Impala, while Mercedes-Benz showed a new GL SUV and Toyota a new Lexus ES 350. But none could compete with Nissan’s boxy taxicab. After all, no one in New York drives.